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Indian Potash Limited (IPL) is preparing to reopen the Badamba Cooperative Sugar Mill in Cuttack district, Odisha, after more than 15 years of closure, with an estimated INR 360 crore investment in revival and modernisation. The project will include a 3,500 tonnes-per-day sugarcane crushing unit, a 16 MW co-generation power plant, a 10-tonne-per-day Bio-CNG facility and a cold-storage unit. It is expected to directly benefit around 10,000 farmers in Badamba block by restoring a local market for sugarcane and supporting cultivation. The revival is part of IPL’s wider strategy of bringing closed cooperative sugar mills back into operation and strengthening the agricultural value chain. The company operates 11 sugar mills across Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Odisha and has undertaken similar revival projects in Gujarat.
Indian Potash Limited (IPL) is preparing to restart the Badamba Cooperative Sugar Mill in Cuttack district, Odisha, following more than 15 years of closure, with the company investing around INR 360 crore in its revival and modernisation. Preparations, including staffing, are progressing, and the project is expected to directly benefit around 10,000 farmers in Badamba block while generating employment across agricultural, industrial and allied activities.
The revived facility will have a sugarcane crushing capacity of 3,500 tonnes per day and include a 16 MW co-generation power plant, a 10-tonne-per-day Bio-CNG plant and a modern cold-storage facility. The integrated infrastructure is intended to establish the mill as a broader agro-industrial facility rather than a sugar-processing unit alone.
For sugarcane growers in the area, the reopening would restore a local procurement and processing channel. A functioning mill can provide an organised market for cane, supporting farmers who return to cultivation or expand existing acreage. The project is consequently expected to link agricultural production more closely with processing and procurement.
IPL’s revival strategy draws on its experience with closed cooperative sugar mills in Gujarat. The company has invested around INR 305 crore in reviving and modernising three mills at Talala, Kodinar and Valsad. It also repaid approximately INR 300 crore in outstanding loans and settled INR 40.09 crore in pending dues owed to employees, vendors, farmers and statutory bodies. The Gujarat programme included efforts to promote improved sugarcane varieties, with the aim of expanding cane cultivation and improving productivity.
The Badamba project is expected to generate employment in sugarcane procurement, plant operations, engineering, maintenance, transport, logistics and administration. Increased activity could also support agricultural input suppliers, farm labour, harvesting equipment operators, mechanics, transporters, contractors, local businesses and other service providers associated with the sugarcane economy.
The planned co-generation, Bio-CNG and cold-storage facilities could add further economic activity around the mill and diversify its operations. IPL currently owns 11 sugar mills, comprising six in Uttar Pradesh, three in Gujarat and two in Odisha. Its recent initiatives in Gujarat have focused on scientific agronomy, irrigation, crop nutrition, farmer training and technology-based interventions to improve sugarcane productivity.
IPL has also partnered with UPL Sustainable Agri Solutions on a programme covering farmers in the catchment area of its Kodinar Sugar Mill, focusing on agronomic practices, digital tools and regenerative agriculture to improve productivity and profitability.
The Badamba revival comes amid a broader government effort to bring closed cooperative sugar mills back into productive use. The Union government has highlighted IPL’s role in such projects, particularly following its Gujarat experience. The policy backdrop also includes a Fair and Remunerative Price of INR 365 per quintal for sugarcane for the 2026-27 sugar season, based on a basic recovery rate of 10.25%.
With recruitment and operational preparations advancing, the Badamba project is expected to reconnect local sugarcane cultivation with organised processing while creating employment and supporting ancillary economic activity in the surrounding region.
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